by Matt Thomas

Last night, I watched my beloved San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams, which never gets old by the way. Historically, winning is something the 49ers are familiar with. But, like any organization, being successful doesn’t just happen. Among other things, it requires hard work, honesty, and the desire to be better by helping everyone get better. 
 
These qualities are written across the tenure of coaching legend Bill Walsh. The first year Walsh coached this storied franchise was 1979 and his new team was the worst in the NFL (a record of 2-14 his first year). But, over the next three years, the work that was done by everyone in the organization would result in the first of 3 Super Bowl wins. It’s an incredible story! 
 
The process that took place for these unimaginable outcomes to be realized is actually even more amazing. When leaders set out to change an organization or to lead it through a process of improvement, they often set goals, plans, and a timeline that they want to measure against in order to be successful. Walsh did not believe this would be the most effective plan. In fact, his plan, what he called the “Standard of Performance,” was a process that involved everyone in the organization intensely focusing on evidenced improvement leading to one specific goal…a championship. What made this process unique were two points Walsh repeatedly emphasized.
 
1.Success was not defined by what he wanted the team to accomplish but rather who he wanted them to become…champions.
 
Instilling a process that reminds a team of who they are becoming rather than what needs to be done is difficult to replicate. For Walsh, it required clear and measurable goals, deep trust throughout the entire organization, laser focus on solving real problems, and eliminating anything that prevented improvement. 
 
2.Becoming a champion would require improvement by everyone.
 
Walsh knew that taking over a team with a 14% winning percentage would not be an easy task. Stories are told of how Walsh assessed everything and everyone within the organization in hopes of finding areas, even deceptively small areas, to improve. This, he believed, was the underlying reason for his team’s success. 
 
For schools and educational leaders, this “standard of performance” can be replicated but it requires administrators and teachers to work together to build deep trust, to honestly assess real problems that impact student outcomes, and to strive to eliminate obstacles that prevent improvement from taking place. 
 
At Baylor’s Center for School Leadership, our work is grounded in this practice. My colleague and friend Jon Eckert rightly says, 

“If recent years have taught us anything, we cannot improve schools as isolated individuals. The myth of the solitary genius or heroic leader acting alone has been exposed as a dangerous fallacy because no one can possibly measure up against the idealized versions of these idealized heroes in our own minds. The range of challenges in schools means that a school “leader” will be unable to meet all of the demands, even if she tries to distribute tasks. However, the complexity that arises from myriad challenges makes education infinitely interesting for broad-based networked school leadership that requires the collective expertise of a diverse range of leaders, including students, within a school. From improvement science to deliberate practice to educators’ intuition based on their shared experiences, we know that we need others to improve."
 
If this sounds like the work you want your school to be doing, join us in Dallas, Texas on June 13-14, 2022 for the Academy for Transformational Leadership. 

​At this once a year event, you will join teams from around the country for a two-day launch of what we hope will be a year of school-wide improvement. By the end of our time, each school will create and present a plan for addressing one problem of practice and be invited to launch a year of progress with three to eight other schools using improvement science approaches to solve similar problems.

Read all 17 principles of Walsh's Standard of Performance

​by Jon Eckert, Ed.D. 

We know them when we see them. 
 
Almost everyone I know has had a transformational teacher. These are teachers that change the trajectory of students’ lives. They are not just good teachers who do an adequate job of communicating a subject or subjects. Great teachers help us see the world differently. We see ourselves and others differently. They inspire hope, passion, and perseverance.
 
How do they do it? Although it feels like magic, it is not. Great teachers at all levels connect with students in three ways.
 
Individual
We all want to be known by others. Great teachers help us to feel known. This starts with basic things like knowing our names within the first day or week. I have not met a great teacher yet who does not know his/her students’ names within the first week. More importantly, great teachers help their students know themselves. In great classrooms, students know their strengths, where they have already grown, and where they can continue to grow because of honest assessment and feedback.
 
Mutual
The relationship between the teacher and the student is a sacred one. This is the role that Jesus took with his disciples. There is a bond between teacher and students that is powerful because it is predicated on trust and understanding. Trust develops through appropriate self-disclosure and vulnerability as we learn from and with each other.
 
Collective 
In the classrooms of great teachers, a community develops. Students care for and teach each other. Students learn to care for the community in which their schools and homes are located. They learn to care for God’s creation and become good stewards of his resources. This happens through service learning like visiting retirement homes or serving at homeless shelters. Schools work best when they connect with community resources. When learning is in the service of others, there is always a purpose. 
 
As Tim Keller writes, “Every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God’s calling can matter forever.” Great Christian teachers know this is a daily pursuit. Those “simple” endeavors include giving timely feedback, ensuring materials are ready each day, and making sure each child feels safe to take risks. Students of these teachers internalize the calling implicit in the work that is before them. The product of great teachers are students who flourish and reflect their Creator’s glory.